Adolescence is a gripping Netflix drama starring Boiling Point's Stephen Graham as the father of a teenage boy who is arrested on suspicion of killing his schoolmate.
With each episode filmed as one continuous shot, the series shows how a family is ripped apart following the arrest of schoolboy Jamie Miller (played by newcomer Owen Cooper). Top Boy’s Ashley Walters is the Detective Inspector on the case while The Crown’s Erin Doherty is a clinical psychologist.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Netflix series Adolescence…
Adolescence release date
Adolescence is a four-part drama series that launches on Netflix from Thursday March 13 2025.
Is there a trailer?
Yes there's an Adolescence trailer and you can see just how gritty this new drama is going to be. Take a look below...
Adolescence plot
With knife crime blighting the lives of families up and down the country, timely new crime drama Adolescence follows the experiences of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) and his shocked parents when the terrified teenager is arrested on suspicion of stabbing a teenage girl classmate to death. It’s a crime Jamie denies he was responsible for and events after his arrest play out in four emotional episodes.
His dad Eddie (Stephen Graham) is forced to act as his "appropriate adult" and the series shows how the accusation turns the family’s world upside down.
Adolescence cast — Stephen Graham interview on playing Eddie Miller
In Adolescence, Stephen Graham plays accused teenager Jamie's father Eddie Miiler.
Stephen revealed: "I play a man called Eddie, who's just a normal father. You know, he's a hard working man. He's got his own business. He's a grafter, he’s raising his family and doing the best that he can, and then suddenly his whole world is rocked by something that his son is accused of. The idea came as - over the past 10 years or so - we’ve seen an epidemic of knife crime amongst young lads, up and down the country. And for me, there were certain instances that really stuck out where young boys - and they are young boys, you know, they're not men - were killing young girls.
"When I mentioned it to Phil, it just really hit me hard. I just thought, why? What's going on? What's happening? Why is this the case? What's going on with our society as a whole, as a collective, and without being disrespectful, when these things are on the news - and we’re a couple of kids from council estates - but when these things are on the news, your judgement instantly goes to blaming the family, you blame the mum and dad. We’re all guilty of it, because that's the easy common denominator. I just thought, ‘what if that's not the case at all?’ That was it.
"The four episodes have been filmed almost like a play. Without sounding pretentious, it's the marriage of both mediums. It technically is a play, and it’s the most zen I’ve ever been, because it's naturalism and we are playing to the camera. We spent a whole week rehearsing as actors with Phil, and we went through every beat, through every moment, piece by piece. We dissected the script, which is beautifully written by Jack Thorne. And then you immerse yourself into that character from as soon as we say ‘action’, to as soon as we say ‘cut’. And within that, we spend the whole week working with the choreography of the camera that Phil and Matt [Lewis, Director of Photography] have already arranged when we turn up as actors. We have to work out how to move around the spaces and where we're going to go, because it has to be seamless and continuous. It's just such a wonderful process."
* Stephen Graham has a string of hit movies and TV shows under his belt, including This is England, Snatch, A Thousand Blows, Boiling Point, Time, Save Me, Rocketman and Line of Duty.
Ashley Walters as DI Luke Bascombe
Ashley Walters plays DI Luke Bascombe investigating the case in Adolescence. Stephen Graham says: "We know Ashley can play a drug dealer like Dushane in Top Boy brilliantly, but I wanted to see him in a role that showed his other side," explains Stephen. "He was pushed in a way he’s never been pushed before – and the results are on the screen for all to witness!"
* Former rapper Asher D, now turned actor Ashley Walters is best known for his role as Dushane in Top Boy. His other credits include Bulletproof, I Am, Safe House, Doctor Who, Outcasts and Hustle.
Erin Doherty as clinical psychologist Briony Ariston
Erin Doherty is playing clinical psychologist Briony Ariston. She previously played the young Princess Anne in The Crown and has also been in A Thousand Blows, Reawakening, Call the Midwife, Les Misérables and Chloe.
Who else is starring in Adolescence?
Newcomer Owen Cooper plays teenager Jamie Miller, who's accused of murder. Christine Tremarco (The Responder) plays Eddie’s wife Manda, Mark Stanley (The Reckoning) as solicitor Paul Barlow. Also starring are Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones), Jo Hartley (After Life) and newcomer Amélie Pease.
On the casting of Owen Cooper as Jamie, Stephen Graham says: " I think this is a first? Normally, you don't audition for a kid like this. To get to the last four, it was like hundreds and hundreds that our producer Philip Barantini saw first. And we were conscious not to say, ‘thank you very much, and see you later, ta-rah’. We knew that we wanted one kid, but the others in the final selection - we gave them the opportunity to play other characters within our piece. You can break their little hearts in this position, you know what I mean? And that's not what you want to do. You want to make these kids go, ‘wow, okay, I can’. And what you're explaining is that you don't fit this particular thing that we're looking for right now, but we would like to offer you another role. So they all have roles within the show. Each and every one of the kids were absolutely superb. All of the kids within our piece are fantastic."
Behind scenes and more on Adolescence
The series Adolescence has been created and written by Graham and multi-award winner Jack Thorne (The Swimmers, Joy). It was filmed (see below) in 2024.The Executive Producers are Mark Herbert and Emily Feller for Warp Films, Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters for Matriarch Productions, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films, Philip Barantini for It’s All Made Up Productions, and Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner and Nina Wolarsky for Plan B Entertainment. Carina Sposato (Plan B Entertainment) , Peter Balm and Niall Shamma (Warp Films) serve as Co-Executive Producers. The Producer is Jo Johnson.
